About Legal Aid: … Helping people in need: The Legal Services Commission (LSC) runs the legal aid scheme in England and Wales and helps people in need receive high quality legal advice, assistance and representation. The Ministry of Justice oversees our work.

The annual budget is set by the treasury and provides funding for legal aid to help people:

Protect their basic rights and get a fair hearing,

Access the court process to sort out disputes,

Solve problems that contribute to social exclusion.

How do we deliver legal services? We run two schemes:

The Community Legal Service (CLS) provides advice and legal representation for people involved in civil cases,

The Criminal Defence Service (CDS) provides advice and legal representation for people facing criminal charges.